Aleksander Chan

Kevin Adorno, 28, was on a bicycling trip from Maryland to Miami. He was planning to propose to girlfriend at the end of his trip. On the final leg of his journey, he stopped at a McDonald's in Vero Beach, Fla., where he was fatally stabbed by a homeless man. He was reportedly on the phone with his girlfriend at the time and police found the engagement ring on him after he was pronounced dead.

The Vero Beach News Journal reports that the man who stabbed Adorno—a graphic designer from Unionville, Conn.—was Rene Herrera Cruz, 59, who was found and arrested by police at the Burger King across the street from the McDonald's. Cruz told police he believed Adorno was plotting against him:

Detectives said Cruz admitted during questioning to committing the stabbing. Cruz told police he thought Adorno was directing other people by cellphone to attack him. He also told detectives someone inside McDonald's was using a laptop computer to order someone to attack him.

The stabbing wasn't the first encounter police had with Cruz during the Labor Day weekend. Sunday night, Currey said Cruz had called 911 in the vicinity of McDonald's and told police he was afraid someone would try to hurt him.

Adorno was apparently stabbed in the chest and arm and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Cruz was arrested by police without incident, the Vero Beach News Journal reports, and charged with first-degree murder. Adorno's girlfriend told police that she wasn't able to hear his confrontation with Cruz, but that she "could hear the phone drop, then silence passed before she heard sirens."

Advertisement

According to Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey, the biking trip was on Adorno's "bucket list." He had started his trip last month.